This invention relates to an improved fishing apparatus which enables a fisherman to stand on a beach or on a pier and fish several hundred yards out to sea, or to stand on the shore of a lake and fish at its deepest part in the center of the lake.
The basic apparatus is a conventional fishing rod and reel. In conventional fishing systems, an individual fishing off the shore of a lake or standing on a beach or a pier adjacent an ocean casts his line into the water by conventional fishing casting methods. Even the most able fisherman seldom gets his line and bait much further than seventy-five to one hundred feet from the shore. In lake fishing, this is usually satisfactory to catch small trout, sunfish, etc. In ocean fishing, only modest success can be achieved at this distance. In addition, the ocean current continuously draws the line in, necessitating frequent recasting.
In order to successfully fish in deeper waters, a boat is employed. On a lake, fishing from a boat enables the fisherman to cast his line and bait into the deeper parts of the lake where more and bigger fish are likely to be present. Although this method can be successful, the presence of the boat often alerts the fish and they are less likely to attack the bait. In order to fish in deeper waters in the ocean, a boat is also employed. Once again, the presence of the boat serves to alert the fish to the presence of the fisherman. In addition, chartering a boat can add to the expense of the fishing venture and the time it takes to actually start fishing. Even if a person owns a boat, there is considerable effort involved in hauling the boat to the fishing site, unloading it, preparing it for fishing, and either rowing it out to the center of a lake or motoring it out to the ocean.
The present invention serves to eliminate all of these problems by incorporating an apparatus which enables the fisherman to have the ability to fish as far offshore as though he were in a boat, while still standing on the shore, beach, pier, or comparable area adjacent the water. The general concept of such an apparatus has been though of before but the previous applications have been commercial failures because they have been impractical. U.S. Pat. No. 3,462,870 issued to Terilli discloses an aerial fishing system in which a kite attached to the fishing line carries the line far out to sea. A very similar concept utilizing a kite to carry the line and bait out to sea while the fisherman is standing on a pier was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,358,399 issued to Waldmann. The use of a kite for this purpose is totally impractical. First, there must be a substantial amount of wind in order to enable the kite to fly and carry the fishing line out to sea or to the center of a lake. Second, the wind must be continuous and blow in the same direction in order to sustain the kite in flight. A sudden shift of wind can cause the kite to fly off in another direction, carrying the hook and bait with it. Third, once the wind dies down, the kite will fall into the water. The kite will sink into the water and the bulk of the kite will make it much harder to pull the line in. Usually, the kite will drop much too fast to enable the line to be pulled in before the kite hits and sinks into the water. In addition to the drag problem, there is an excellent chance of the kite being damaged and possibly destroyed if the ocean current is rough. Therefore, the use of a kite is impractical.
The ues of an air inflated, resilient envelope or bag to act as a float is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,677,208 issued to Newton. In this patent, the invention is to provide a fishing float of sufficient size to be seen for relatively long distances, yet which is sufficiently light in weight to permit comparatively great distances to be covered by the float. In this disclosure, the inflatable envelope or bag is used as a float and is not equipped to carry the line and bait out to sea.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,149,435 issued to Nordeen also discloses a fishing float in which the float is a balloon. The purpose of the balloon is merely to act as a float. The method of carrying the line and bait out to sea is by a complex propellor apparatus which carries the balloon out to sea. In a second embodiment, the propellor is eliminated and actuating mechanism is substituted. In either embodiment, the complexity of the device renders it likely to have numerous problems while in use. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 28,331 issued to Nordeen discloses a complex fishing apparatus in which the float is a balloon and is used to lift the caught fish vertically out of the water.
Therefore, although the general concept of using a flying object (i.e., a kite) to carry a fishing line out to sea and the general concept of using a balloon to act as a float has been taught in the prior art, no really simple practical apparatus has been developed for carrying a line out to sea or to the middle of a lake in the absence of a strong continuous wind and enabling the line to be towed back easily after the fish has been caught.